科比的足球缘

杰夫·卡莱尔

The magnitude of Kobe Bryants reach was such that his death， along with his daughter Gianna， in a helicopter accident resonated well beyond basketball and into other sports， and soccer proved to be no exception. When reports emerged of Bryants death， there were tweets from soccer teams all over the globe， including AC Milan， the team he supported in his youth. It felt like the sport had lost a dear friend.

These days， its not unusual for a professional athlete to show an affinity for other sports， even of the international variety. There is a commonality in the struggle， an acknowledgement of the slog and skill it takes to get to the top. Soccer has been a full beneficiary of this trend. Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been known to sport a Real Madrid jersey. In an interview， San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was seen wearing Paris Saint-Germains colors.

Go back 20 years or so and such overt signs of approval were not as common， but even back then Bryant was an unabashed soccer fan. His roots in the game ran deep. He was a soccer aficionado before the sport was remotely close to being mainstream.

The sport of soccer has tended to appreciate these shoutouts more than most. While it touts itself as the worlds game， mainstream acceptance in the U.S. has been slow in coming—painfully at times—over the past several decades. Acceptance by the likes of Bryant—be it by wearing a jersey or talking up the game—meant another smidgen of added street cred.

When Bryants father， former NBA player Joe “Jellybean” Bryant， opted to continue his career in Italy， he took his family with him， including a then-6-year-old Kobe. The younger Bryant was soon immersed in the countrys sporting culture， playing soccer one moment and basketball the next on the neighborhood courts where his family lived. And he took what he could from soccer and applied it to basketball.

“[Soccer] is strategic，” Bryant told ESPN during a 2017 interview. “Upon receiving the ball you already have to have a good idea of what youre reading in front of you and what the next move is. And also the structure; they taught me at an early age how to play in triangles and how to utilize space， which wound up helping me tremendously in basketball as well. I loved the idea of how quickly the ball moves and how quickly you have to process whats moving right in front of you to make decisions.”

By the time Bryant and his family left Italy and returned to the U.S. in 1991， he had adopted AC Milan as his team. At the time in the U.S. the sport of soccer at the professional level was still struggling. The 1994 FIFA World Cup was still three years away. MLS wouldnt launch for another two.

And yet Bryants fandom continued. His friendship with Brazil great Ronaldinho， and later Argentina superstar Lionel Messi， meant his allegiance tilted toward Barcelona as time wore on. He even took time out during the 2008 Summer Olympics to watch Messi in person during Argentinas 3-0 semifinal win over rivals Brazil. A swarm of fans followed him out of the Workers Stadium that night in Beijing， his head bobbing above the throng in the evening light. He also hit up Messi in the cafeteria.

“At the Olympics， the cafeteria is always the best place to be because you have all the athletes from all the teams in one place，” Bryant said. “When we were in the cafeteria walking around， we saw [Messi] and his team sitting at one of the tables and I just walked up and sat down with him and kind of talked about the Olympics， the game a little bit. It was fun.”

Bryants assortment of endorsements， including BodyArmor， meant he stayed connected to the game of soccer in a sponsorship role. He spoke often of how the U.S. womens national team inspired his daughters. In an interview with ESPN television analyst Herculez Gomez at MLS Media Day， Bryant spoke of how he felt the Lakers were much like present-day Barcelona， storied teams in transition.

Now that connection is gone. The sport of soccer in the U.S. is on solid enough footing now where famous players arent just fans but investors， with the Houston Rockets James Harden buying a stake in the Houston Dynamo and the Seattle Seahawks Russell Wilson investing in the Seattle Sounders. But Bryant was like the old friend whom you might not see much of these days but are comforted by the mere thought of him being around. He is already missed.

科比·布莱恩特和女儿吉安娜因直升机失事不幸丧生——科比影响力巨大，这一噩耗不仅震动了篮球界，也震惊了包括足球在内的其他运动领域。科比离世的报道一出，全球各地的足球队纷纷在推特上发文哀悼，他青少年时期一直支持的AC米兰也在其中。足球界就像失去了一位好朋友。

如今，某项运动的职业运动员热爱其他体育项目，甚至跨越国家的界限，都不是什么稀罕事。体育运动有一个共同点，就是承认需要苦练与技巧才能抵达运动的巅峰。足球一直充分体现了那一趋势。NBA费城76人队的球星乔尔·恩比德据说曾身穿皇马球衣。在一次采访中，人们还看见NFC旧金山49人队的四分卫吉米·加洛波洛穿着巴黎圣日耳曼的队服。

时间倒回约20年前，这样的公开喜爱并不普遍，但即便那时，科比也毫不掩饰自己对足球的喜爱。他深爱这项运动。在足球远未成为美国的主流体育项目之时，他就已是个足球迷。

足球运动向来非常需要这样支持的力量。虽然它自詡是世界第一运动，但过去几十年，美国主流社会对它的接受一直很慢——有时可谓缓慢至极。像科比这样的球星对足球的认可——无论是身穿球衣还是谈论比赛——就意味着街头巷尾又增添了一点儿谈资。

科比的父亲是前NBA球员“甜豆”乔·布莱恩特，科比6岁时，父亲选择去意大利继续自己的职业生涯，家人也随同前往。小科比很快就融入了意大利的体育文化中。在家附近的球场上，他要么踢足球，要么打篮球。他尽力从足球中学习知识并运用到篮球上。

“[足球]讲究战术配合，”2017年科比接受ESPN采访时说，“接球时，你必须已经认清场上形势，知道下一步该怎么做。另外，还得知道阵型。小时候在足球场上我就学会了如何进行三角配合，如何利用场上空间，这对我打篮球帮助很大。我喜欢琢磨球有多快，根据场上形势作出决策得有多快。”

1991年，科比随家人离开意大利回到美国，之前他就已成为AC米兰的球迷。当时，美国的职业足球还在苦苦挣扎。那时离1994年国际足联世界杯的举办还有三年，离美国职业足球大联盟的建立还有五年。

然而，科比始终保持着对足球的热爱。他先后与巴西球星罗纳尔迪尼奥及阿根廷巨星梅西建立起友谊，这说明，随着时间推移，他对西甲豪门巴塞罗那也愈加喜爱。2008年夏季奥运会期间，他甚至抽出时间亲临现场观看梅西的比赛——在那场半决赛中，梅西率领的阿根廷队以3：0战胜对手巴西队。当晚，一群球迷跟在他身后涌出北京工人体育场，夜光下，他的头高出旁人一截，在人群中晃动。他还在自助餐厅碰到了梅西。

“奥运会期间，自助餐厅永远是最棒的地方，因为所有参赛队的运动员都会聚集在这里。”科比说，“我们在餐厅四处溜达，看到梅西和他的队友坐在一张桌子旁，我就走了过去，往他身边一坐，聊了聊奥运会，还说了几句比赛的事。非常有趣。”

科比为包括运动饮料BodyArmor在内的各种品牌做代言，意味着他能以赞助者的身份与足球保持联系。他经常提及美国国家女子足球队如何激励了他的女儿们。在大联盟媒体日接受ESPN电视评论员赫拉克勒斯·戈麦斯采访时，科比谈到，他觉得湖人队很像现在的巴塞罗那队，都是处于转型期的大牌球队。

现在这种联系已经没了。美国的足球运动如今基础足够坚实，许多著名的球员不仅是球迷，还成了投资人，比如休斯敦火箭队的詹姆斯·哈登拥有了休斯敦迪纳摩足球俱乐部的股份，西雅图海鹰队的拉塞尔·威尔逊投资了西雅图海湾人足球俱乐部。而科比就像个老朋友，可能这些日子不常看到他，但只要想到他在身边就会感到很安慰。我们想念他。

（译者单位：宜春学院体育学院）